Job Discussion Forums

[claireridg]

Hi there,

I'm considering moving to France for various reasons. My husband and I could buy a property for us and our kids without the need for a mortgage so we'd just need to cover our living expenses. I have French "A" Level but he only knows basic French at the moment. I have a BA with Qualified Teacher Status and have English "A" Level as well as doing English as my second subject at Uni. I taught in the UK for 4 years. Would I be able to teach English in France privately and/or at Language Schools? I'm thinking of doing a TEFL course online as I obviously already have lots of teaching experience, would that be ok?

Any other ideas for income? I guess we could buy a property with a gite or buy to let eg. an apartment in a French town to let out for income. Just wondering if you have any ideas what else we could do for an income?

Sorry to bombard you all with questions! Hope you can help.

Thanks,

Claire

[Pollux]

Claire, Your qualifications are fine to teach at high school level. You might not be able to walk in right away, but you will get work.
An on-line TEFL is not the best thing for language schools, but given your other experience it should suffice.
There are many British real estate agents all over France and they might be a good source of info about local opportunities.
What about running a crepperie which doesn't require a great deal of culinary expertise and can be a good family business.
In any case, you might want to decide on a region that would suit you and your husband and travel there to see what is possible.
Narrow down your questions a bit and you will get more responses.

[rogan]

Spend some time working through the forums on www.angloinfo.com and you could save yourself a lot of grief.

I have seen many people try to settle in France with no solid plan.

Unfortunately many of them have returned to the UK much poorer, sadder and often divorced.


To teach in any State school you need a CAPE "X" speciality Secondaire or Primaire or Technique or Physique)
British QTS is not recognised in France because all teachers are seen as fonctionnaires = civil servants and need to pass a concours - the CAPE"_"

These are competitive exams which many French people fail after taking 1 or 2 year special preparatory courses at a Univ (or equivalent).
You need to register before December of the year before you want to take the exam.
It consists of 3 days of 4 hour exams. The State decides that it will need X Maths/English/Philo/Geog (etc) teachers in September of the following year and X number of teachers pass the exam.
It is not unusual for French people to fail the exam at least once.

La Privee (ie private schools) are generally faith based, that is they are controlled by a Diocesese and have their own Education Departments, usually Catholic.

In the state system, run by a Rectorat (Regional Education Department) it is possible to find supply teaching (vacataire work) This is usually to cover maternity leave or when someone has a depression and will be absent for the greater part of a term.
All you need for this is to have your UK Degrees etc 'homologue' - that is translated and accepted by the authorities, then you qualify as a vacataire.

In both Publique and Privee schools you will NOT be teaching EFL. You will be teaching towards the state exams to be taken at age 14 and 18. The curricular requirements do not leave and freedom to do what you think is best and you will be required to follow the syllabus as laid down.

There are lots of private language 'schools' like Inlingua and Wall Street Institute (amongst many others) which are listed in the yellow pages under "Enseignement - langues" Check www.pagesjaunes.fr , leave the name blank and enter the city/town/Departement/Region that interests you.
There is often a lot of travelling to do between classes - because you probably won't be working in one "school" but in several different Business environments. And some places will ask you to provide your own transport.

NOTE: A TEFL Cert, CELTA or whatever is only of use with some of these companies. They pay fairly badly and generally are for older/adult/business students.

Brit style private schools are listed on www.ecis.org and www.cois.org and many of these may require UK QTS.
They often follow the UK National curriculum or the IB and have vacancies for teachers of all normal school subjects, not just EFL.

So, general advice -
Don't waste your money on a TEFL qualification - it's generally pretty useless.
Have your qualifications accepted and agreed by the various Rectorats (have a course transcript also)
Teaching in schools is easier in large cities (not just Paris) Lyon, Grenoble, Toulouse etc also offer possibilities at times.

Those are general observations.
They are not specific to any Region or city.
They should hopefully save a few people from arriving in France with dreams of a happy rural life, then living a nightmare and returning to the UK a poorer, sadder and (often divorced) person.

[rogan]

France :-

I really do think that you should "declare your interest" and explain your connection with the organisation that you have recommended.

You have it as your contact website on your profile so I guess that you are related to it in some way.

That's hardly what one could call unbiased advice, is it?

You have not commented on the real value of a 4 week TEFL course.

[John Hamilton]

I agree with Rogan with the exception of one comment "Don't waste your money on a TEFL qualification - it's generally useless." EFL schools in France run by Brits do look at TEFL certificates. I would advise against a distance learning course they are pretty much a waste of money.
France is not the land of Liberte Egalite Fraternite. It is a highly bureaucratic overtaxed society that is best seen on holiday. You will be shocked at how much tax you will have to pay and the sheer number of different taxes and forms to fill in. The French invented VAT (TVA). The recent riots in France illustrate just how divided France is.
The EFL market in France is in deep recession. If you're lucky you might get a well paid job in a business school but I wouldn't count on it.

John.

[Jetset]

I'll never forget something a Kebab guy said to me when I told him I was from Canada and looking for work:

"Why you come to France? It is Third World Country!" followed by maniacal laughter...

Short but sweet.

France - nice place to visit, but would you really want to live there?

[brianS]

Don't think that UK qualifications will help to get a decent job.
To work properly in the state system you need the competitive exam Rogan has described: the CAPES which is difficult for English speaking teachers to get as part of it has to be written in French, and mistakes aren't allowed!
As Rogan says, you woudn't be teaching TEFL either. The "programme" is centrally decided, and , for example in the last two years to the Bac there are classes of about 30 reading and writing, but none of the listening and speaking which good practice TEFL would promote.

I have been here 10 years after being Director of English Studies in a Sixth Form College in England, and I have found that my experience and qualifications count for nothing, although I have picked up some scraps from the table in the form of bits of 'vacataire' work..what would be known as supply in the UK
There are two sorts of that , too
"Contactuel" which means you have a job for a year at about 1400 euros a month
"Non-contcatuel" which means you are paid by the hour but you can't do more than 200 hours in the year
To get a post as contractuel you have to apply the the Rectorat in a specific time frame ( here in Montpellier it is usually Feb/March) and be interviewed in June by an Inspector in French and English

To get a post as non-contractuel you just send in your CV, photocopies of your qualifications translated into French ( but they won't look at CELTA) and a 'lettre de Motivation"..and God help you if there are any spelling mistakes!
Don't forget either that you will often be covering the most difficuket classes that caused the "titulaire" to be off sick with stress!

I have has some private school work paid at 14 euros an hour before deductions for social security, but very few people out side Paris get enough of that to live on
Now I make my living as a musician!

[John Hamilton]